SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Rasheed Wallace scored nine of his 18 points
down the stretch as the Portland Trail Blazers recorded a 90-84
victory over the Seattle SuperSonics.

With the game tied 79-79 with 3:59 to play, Wallace hit 1-of-2
free throws before Gary Payton hit a 3-pointer 18 seconds later,
giving the SuperSonics a two-point lead.

After Wallace hit two free throws with 3:16 remaining, he gave
the Trail Blazers the lead for good one minute later with a
13-foot jumper from the right side.

Desmond Mason missed two shots and Rashard Lewis misfired on a
3-pointer with 1:29 left before Wallace's turnaround jumper gave
Portland an 86-82 lead with 23 seconds to play. He hit two free
throws nine seconds later.

"He was real big for us," Blazers guard Damon Stoudamire said.
"He made every big bucket that we needed and more important, he
was asking for the ball."

"Down the stretch, Rasheed took over and made some big shots,"
Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He made the big plays."

Stoudamire closed the scoring for the Trail Blazers with a pair
of free throws with just two seconds left. Stoudamire scored 14
points.

Bonzi Wells added 12 points for the Blazers (29-24), who opened
a 1 1/2-game lead over the Sonics (28-26) for seventh place in
the Western Conference.

"We know that they are eighth and we are seventh, but we are
just trying to keep winning and play games and doing what we
do," Portland guard Ruben Patterson said. "Once April gets
around here, we just want to keep on winning and building and
that's what we are doing."

Lewis scored 24 points and Payton added 15 for Seattle, which
completed a stretch of four games in five nights.

"I think most people would have said that this team probably
would've have gotten blown out with four games in five days,"
Sonics coach Nate McMillan said.

The Sonics are just 2-6 in their last eight home games.

"It's frustrating to lose another game here at home, but we're
not going to downplay our effort," Seattle guard Brent Barry
said. "We didn't shoot the ball like we normally do."

Seattle shot 43 percent (35-of-80) from the field but made just
5-of-20 from 3-point range.

"I don't want to say it's fatigue, but yeah, that does play a
part," Barry said.

Payton hit 1-of-2 free throws 18 seconds into the fourth quarter
to give the Sonics a 66-64 lead, but Portland scored 11 of the
next 15 points to take a 75-70 lead with 7:59 remaining.

Patterson, who scored 11 points, Rick Brunson and Derek Anderson
scored three points apiece during the spurt. Stoudamire added a
jumper to cap the run.

The Sonics followed with an 8-4 run over the next 2:45, tying
the game, 79-79. Rookie Predrag Drobnjak scored four of his
eight points over that span.

"We had a chance to win the game and we were in the game," Lewis
said. "We just weren't able to capitalize."